Skewer.



UNITED STATES PATENT oFFroE.

GEORGE L. STARK AND ALBERT IV. BAXTER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SKEWER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 11, 1909.

Patented Nov.

Serial No. 512,402.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that we, GEORGE L. STARK and ALBERT W. BAXTER, both citizensof the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of LosAngeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Skewer,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to skewers for hangmg meat and particularlybellies of bacon when being cured, such a type of skewer being shown ina previous application of ours filed Oct. 28, 1908, Serial No. 59936.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for causing theteeth to automatically move toward each other to contract the spacesbetween the teeth as the meat shrinks in'be ing cured, so that whencured the edge of the meat which was engaged by the skewer will not bestretched or wider than the rest of the meat.

Another object is to provide a skewer which may be more economicallyconstructed.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete skewer. Fig. 2 is a frontelevation of the skewer. Fig. 3 is a section on line w -w Fig. 2.

1 designates a. supporting hook having a straight shank 2 which extendsthrough and supports a frame 3, the latter comprising a horizontal barwith upturned ends 4. Each end t has a slot 5 and the ends of a toothcarrier 6 are slidably mounted in the slots 5. The tooth carrier 6comprises a horizontal bar having a central portion 7 which is twistedat right angles to the main portion of the bar. The portion 7 has aperforation 8 through which the shank 2 of the hook 1 loosely passes.The tooth carrier 6 is thus capable of a vertical sliding movement withrespect to the frame 3 and 1s guided in such vertical movement by slots5 and bars 2. A coil spring 8 is arranged around the shank 2 between theframe '3 and tooth carrier 6. The spring 8 serves to hold the carrier 6in its upper position.

A series of teeth 9 project transversely from the frame 3, each tooth 9being bent substantially at right angles to form a shank 10 whichoccupies a substantial vertical plane. The frame 3 is provided withperforations 11 through which the shanks 1O loosely pass, theperforations 11 being somewhat larger than the shanks 10 for a reason tobe explained. The upper ends of the y shanks 10 are formed as hooks 12which extend through perforations 13 in the tooth carrier 6. The shank 2of each hook 1 is bent slightly so that when the skewer is suspended asshown in Fig. 3 the frame 3 will stand at a slight angle to the verticaland the teeth 9 will be upwardly slanted somewhat. The perforations 13in the tooth. carrier 6 are spaced apart the same distance as theperforations 11 in the frame 3 and the perthe perforations 11 as clearlyshown in Fig. 2 so that all of the shanks 10 on each side of the hookslant outwardly, and it will be obvious that if the tooth carrier 6 ismoved down with respect to the frame 3 that the angles of the shanks 10will be increased and that the spaces between the teeth will bedecreased an amount corresponding to the movement of the tooth carrier6. This swinging action of the shanks 10 is permitted by the enlargedperforations 11 so that the shanks 1O do-not bind therein.

The meat to be cured is pressed onto the teeth 9 and hangs down from theskewer and the weight of the meat pulling on the tooth carrier 6 willmove the latter down somewhat, but will not at first move it clear downfor the reason that the teeth must be permitted to come close togetheras the tooth carrier descends and before the meat is cured the meatbetween the teeth 9 is moist and unshrunk so that it interposes aresistance to prevent the teeth moving toward each other and in this waythe tooth carrier 6 and teeth 9 are prevented from moving down when themeat is first attached. As the meat dries it shrinks so that theresistance of the portions of meat which are between the teeth 9decreases which permits the teeth to move closer together, while theweight of the meat which constantly exerts a downward pressure on thetooth carrier 6, causes the carrier 6 to move down at a rate of speedcorresponding to the rate at which the meat dries. It is also apparentthat as the tooth carrier more closely approaches the frame 3 the teeth9 will be moved farther away from the frame 3 so that the teeth will becapable of a greater degree of swinging movement at the perforations 11.

In the previous application of ours above referred to, the teeth weremoved closer to each other as the meat cured, but such movement wasproduced by the contraction of the meat in drying. In the present caseit is the forations 13 are arranged out of line with weight of the meatand not its contraction which causes the teeth to be moved closertogether. This contracting movement of the teeth is retarded to acertain rate by the meat interposed between the teeth. In the first casethere was a tendency to elongate the holes through which the teeth pass,while in the present case this elongation of the holes in the meat isobviated by the automatic contraction of the teeth produced by theweight of the meat acting through the mechanism of the skewer.

What we claim is:

l. A skewer comprising a frame, a tooth carrier movable vertically onthe frame, and a series of teeth connected with the tooth carrier, saidframe having individual means for guiding the respective teeth of theseries.

2. A. skewer comprising a frame, a series of teeth, means for supportingsaid teeth, and means operated by the weight of the meat on the teethfor moving the teeth closer together.

3. A skewer comprising a frame, a tooth carrier movable vertically onthe frame, teeth connected with the tooth carrier, the frame havingperforations through which the teeth extend, said perforations beinglocated out of line with the point of connections between the teeth andtooth carrier.

4. A skewer comprising a frame consisting of a horizontal bar withupturned ends, said ends having slots, a tooth carrier comprising ahorizontal bar with ends extending through said slots, a hook with ashank supporting said frame, said shank passing loosely through saidtooth carrier, means for yieldingly holding the tooth carrier in theupper part of said slots, and teethpivotally connected to the toothcarrier and extending through perforations in the frame out of line withtheir pivotal connections at the tooth carrier.

5. A skewer comprisin a frame consisting of a horizontal bar withupturned ends, said ends having slots, a tooth carrier comprising ahorizontal bar, the ends of which extend into said slots, a hook with ashank supporting said frame, said shank passing loosely through saidtooth carrier, means for yieldingly holding the tooth carrier in theupper part of said slots, and teeth pivotally connected to the toothcarrier and extending through perforations in the frame out of line withtheir pivotal connections at the tooth carrier, the perforations in theframe through which the teeth pass being somewhat larger than the teeth.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at Los Angeles,California, this 28th day of July 1909.

GEORGE L. STARK. ALBERT IV. BAXTER. In the presence of P. H. SHELToN,FRANK L. A. GRAHAM.

